Conventional automatic fare collection systems (AFCSs) present difficulties in collaborating with different systems, fulfilling various needs, and upgrading. Each terminal was designed to provide a single function such as ticketing, checking, or collecting in a stand-alone configuration, equipped with an embedded system. Upon designing the new AFCS, three points were expected: solutions to those problems, improved convenience for the passengers, and reduced maintenance costs. To satisfy such requirements, the contactless integrated circuit cards (IC cards) were proposed as the alternatives of the paper tickets, and the IC card ticket system named Suica has been developed and utilised by East Japan Railway Company, based on the concept of autonomous decentralised systems. Gate control, transaction process, and value-added services have been integrated in this system. Nowadays, it is becoming more and more important to integrate control, information, and service into a system. This integration enables not only the exchange of messages among heterogeneous systems but also the creation of adaptive integrated systems that satisfy a wide variety of user requirements. This chapter presents the development of Suica system as a case study.

Chapter Contents:

• Abstract
• 7.1 Introduction
• 7.2 System structure
• 7.3 Autonomous cooperative processing technology
• 7.3.1 Technology
• 7.3.2 Evaluation
• 7.4 Autonomous decentralised data-consistency technology
• 7.4.1 Technology
• 7.4.2 Evaluation
• 7.4.2.1 Function reliability
• 7.4.2.2 Evaluation results
• 7.5 Best designing of the system
• 7.5.1 System modelling
• 7.5.2 Evaluation
• 7.5.2.1 Service continuity
• 7.5.2.2 Fluidity
• 7.5.2.3 Evaluation results
• 7.6 Conclusion
• References

Inspec keywords: embedded systems; transaction processing; smart cards; railways

Other keywords: maintenance costs; AFCS; paper tickets; adaptive integrated systems; embedded system; autonomous decentralised systems; east Japan railway company; IC card ticket system; value-added services; stand-alone configuration; automatic fare collection systems; Suica system; railway ticketing services; contactless integrated circuit cards; gate control; heterogeneous systems

Subjects: Computing in other engineering fields; Financial computing